Welcome to the first department-wide email from the Office of Business & Finance. To improve the quality of communication from the Office of Business & Finance, we will utilize an Office-wide communication device. This bulletin will be sent when there is news or an update from the Office of Business & Finance; look for it on Tuesdays.
Nothing in this communication will contain sensitive information, so please share any or all articles with your staff. The bulletins will be archived on the district website.
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The Office of Business and Finance is comprised of three departments — Financial Services, Employee Services, and Procurement Services — and Board Support.
- Financial Services includes: Financial Planning & Analysis, Grants, Communications and Continuous Improvement, Accounting, Accounts Payable, Treasury, and Accounts Receivable.
- Employee Services includes: Benefits, Risk Management, and Payroll. Procurement Services includes: RFP procurement and purchasing.
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Click here for organization chart with current Business & Finance employees.
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CONTACT US
Contact information for Office of Business & Finance staff is included below:
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ACCOUNTING - ANNUAL CERTIFIED FINANCIAL REPORT
The Annual Certified Financial Report (ACFR) was presented and accepted by the Board on Tuesday, January 4. The external auditors issued a clean review, which is a testament to the tireless efforts of DMPS staff.
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ACCOUNTING - SIGNING CONTRACTS
Background: In years past, there were not strong controls around who could sign contracts and legally obligate the district. As such, numerous individuals were signing contracts, including principals, directors, executive directs, etc. Approximately five years ago, the district strengthened controls to limit the number of individuals who could sign contracts due to the codification of Iowa Code sec. 274.3 in 2017.
Guidelines/Authority for Signing Contracts: Iowa Code sec. 291.1 directs a school board’s president to sign all contracts. In 2017 and 2018, the Office of Auditor of State conducted special investigations into the Waukee and Mason City school districts and faulted both districts for allowing individuals other than the board president to sign district contracts. However, given the need for flexibility, the Board may delegate through Board action the signing of certain contracts to a district employee.
The only person the Board has delegated the authority to sign certain contracts is the district Chief Financial Officer.
If you are in possession of a contract that needs signed, please contact Pam Gomez in the Business Office (pamela.gomez@dmschools.org x8527) to arrange for it to be signed by the Chief Financial Officer or the Board President, as applicable. Include in your email a copy of the contract in PDF and fillable form. Also include a brief description of purpose of the contract, the DMPS funding source that will be used, and the page numbers in the contract that has the total cost listed and the signature line.
Please continue to use the Professional Service form for staff PD and student programming that occurs within the school buildings.
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CONTACT US
Click here for contact information for Financial Services.
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BENEFITS - CHANGE IN STATUS
Please remember that if you have a change in status (e.g., birth, marriage, divorce, death, loss of coverage), you must complete and submit the required information through BenfitFocus. Make sure you verify through the submission that the desired changes are made correctly. Different life event changes have different requirements, as listed below.
- New employees must enroll within 30 days of their start date
- Birth life event: 60 days
- Divorce life event: 60 days
- Loss of other coverage: 31 days
- Marriage: 31 days
- Death: 31 days
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PAYROLL - W2s
The deadline for the district to issue employee W2s is January 31. Employees who have signed up for electronic delivery of their W2 will get notification when it is available in Employee Online.
With the new year, if you want to make a change for your tax withholdings for 2022, you can enter and submit changes through completed through Employee Online.
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CONTACT US
Click here for contact information for Employee Services.
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PURCHASING - PURCHASING THRESHOLDS
As a public entity, the district has certain purchasing threshold requirements, based on the value of the purchase. These thresholds are mandated by state and federal guidelines and Board policy. Prior to making a purchase, please reference the thresholds listed below.
The value is determined by the entirety of the purchase. Incremental/Split Transaction used to circumvent the approval process per Board Policy is not allowed. An example of an Incremental/Split Transaction is breaking one transaction that would normally violate Board or p-Card policy into two or more smaller transactions that when looked at individually would not violate policy. For example, a $15,000 microscope, broken into five $3,000 transactions to avoid using the RFP/Quote process. Example two, five $3,000 computers purchased individually to avoid the RFP/Quote process.
A brief outline of district Purchasing Thresholds is included below; full guidelines are included in the Purchasing Manual.
Cost of Purchase: $0.01 - $3,499.99
- Requestor should seek the best value for the District by research or request for quotation. Three quotes would be best.
Cost of Purchase: $3,500.00 - $9,999.99
- Requestor must contact the area-designated Supply Chain Analyst who will issue competitive quotes.
Cost of Purchase: $10,000.00 - $99,999.99
- Requestor must contact the area-designated Supply Chain Analyst who will issue competitive quotes.
- The contract document must be signed by the District’s Chief Financial Officer and counter signed by the awardee’s authorized officer.
$100,000.00 and up
- Requestor must contact the area-designated Supply Chain Analyst who will issue competitive quotes.
- Board approval is required for any expenditure in this spending threshold.
- The contract document must be signed by the District’s Chief Financial Officer and counter signed by the awardee’s authorized officer.
If you ever have a question regarding purchasing, please reach out to a Supply Chain Analyst. The district’s Supply Chain Analysts are specialists in their respective areas.
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CONTACT US
Click here for contact information for Procurement Services.
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Upcoming Deadlines/Reminders |
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UPCOMING DEADLINES
January 13 – Month End (for December)
January 18 – Office Manager meeting (virtual)
January 18 – School Board meeting
January 31 – Deadline for W2s to be issued
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REMINDERS
Employees who have signed up for electronic delivery of their W2 will get notification when it is available in Employee Online.
All Journal Entries for December should be posted by end of day January 13.
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It is the policy of the Des Moines Community School District not to illegally discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, creed, age (for employment), marital status (for programs), sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic status (for programs) in its educational programs and its employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for processing complaints of discrimination. If you believe you have (or your child has) been discriminated against or treated unjustly at school, please contact Carol Wynn-Green, 2100 Fleur Drive, Des Moines, IA 50321; phone: 515-242-7709; email: carol.wynngreen@dmschools.org.
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